San Leandro Man's Murder: 2 Plead Not Guilty

OAKLAND, CA — An ex-con and another man pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder charges for the fatal shooting of a San Leandro man in East Oakland in September.

Chris Yen, 36, of Oakland and Jose Alas, 37, of San Leandro are scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court on Feb. 20 for a pretrial hearing in their case involving the fatal shooting of 38-year-old Jesus Martinez on Sept. 11.

Police and prosecutors said video surveillance, witness statements and fingerprints led to the filing of charges against the two men on Oct. 30. Oakland police Sgt. Bradley Baker wrote in a probable cause statement that at about 7 p.m. on Sept. 11 Martinez was driven to the area of Davenport Avenue and Daisy Street, close to Interstate Highway 580 and Mills College, "where he was confronted and shot multiple times."

Police said officers found Martinez dead at that location a short time later.

Baker said Martinez, Yen and Alas arrived together at the shooting scene in a Jeep that was registered to Alas. Baker said that after the shooting Yen and Alas fled in the Jeep, which was later recovered about a half a mile away. Yen and Alas then fled on foot from the location where the Jeep was abandoned, according to Baker.

The firearm that was used to fatally shoot Martinez and other evidence were found by police at the location where they recovered the Jeep, Baker wrote.

On Oct. 26, Yen was arrested at Oakland police headquarters and Alas was arrested in Hayward, according to court documents.

In addition to murder, Yen and Alas are charged with carrying a loaded firearm in a city and possession of a short-barreled rifle or shotgun.

Yen also is charged with possession of an assault weapon and Alas is charged with being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm, as prosecutors say he was convicted of unlawfully taking a vehicle in 2004.

According to jail records, Alas works as a technician and Yen works as a loader.

— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock